Getting Started

Get Ida up and running in minutes. This guide walks you through installation, initial setup, and indexing your first documentation.

System Requirements

  • macOS 12 (Monterey) or later
  • Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) or Intel processor
  • At least 4GB RAM (8GB recommended)
  • Internet connection for AI features

Installation

1. Download Ida

Download the latest version from tryida.com. Choose the version that matches your Mac:

  • Apple Silicon — For M1, M2, M3, and newer Macs
  • Intel — For older Intel-based Macs

2. Install the App

  1. Open the downloaded .dmg file
  2. Drag Ida to your Applications folder
  3. Double-click Ida in Applications to launch
  4. If prompted, click "Open" to confirm you want to run the app

3. Grant Permissions

Ida needs a few permissions to work properly:

Microphone Access

Required for recording audio from your microphone during meetings.

Screen Recording

Required to capture system audio from meeting apps like Zoom, Google Meet, and Teams. This permission is found in System Preferences → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording.

Index Your First Documentation

Before Ida can surface relevant information, you need to build a knowledge base. Here are the ways to add documentation:

Option 1: Crawl a Documentation Website

  1. Open Settings (⌘,)
  2. Click "Ingest URL"
  3. Enter a documentation URL (e.g., https://docs.example.com/getting-started)
  4. Set the maximum pages to crawl (default: 100)
  5. Click "Start Crawling"

The crawler stays within the same domain and respects your page limits. It extracts text content and generates embeddings for semantic search.

Option 2: Index Local Files

  1. Open Settings (⌘,)
  2. Click "Index Local Docs"
  3. Select a folder containing Markdown files
  4. Ida will recursively index all .md files

Option 3: Paste Text

  1. Open Settings (⌘,)
  2. Click "Paste Text"
  3. Paste your content and give it a title
  4. Click "Index"

Start Your First Session

  1. Join your meeting (Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, etc.)
  2. In Ida, click the record button or press ⌘R
  3. As the conversation flows, Ida transcribes and surfaces relevant docs
  4. Click on any recommendation to see the full context
  5. Use the chat panel to ask follow-up questions
  6. When done, click stop or press ⌘R again
You're Ready!

You've set up Ida and indexed your first documentation. Check out Core Concepts to understand how Sessions, Accounts, and Vaults help you organize your knowledge.

Next Steps